Chapter 136, exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: The Flood is Coming.
As the county town walls gradually disappeared from view, the dozen or so newcomers to Yunlu Village couldn't help but show a hint of tension and trepidation on their faces.
After the villagers of Yunlu Village noticed their presence, they took the initiative to share their previous mountain life with the newlyweds and began to talk about some of the village's rules. The newlyweds immediately put aside their other emotions and listened attentively.
These newcomers had contact with them when they set up a transportation team in Yunlu Village, but they learned about Yunlu Village almost entirely from rumors from the outside world.
Those rumors were a mix of truth and falsehood, and no one could tell until now, when the person involved recounted the details of their mountain retreat.
Gathering, hunting, farming...
Wearing bio-suits, applying cooling patches, drinking cold drinks, eating popsicles, and using air conditioning...
The inexperienced newlyweds looked both shocked and incredulous.
What is most awe-inspiring is still the existence of space and superpowers.
Witnessing the villagers demonstrate the wonders of both abilities, and even seeing a villager who had taken the evolution fluid just two days prior successfully awaken his water-based powers and demonstrate his new abilities on the spot, the newcomers were completely bewildered.
Good heavens, what an incredible organization they've joined!
The villagers did not explicitly say whether the newcomers would have a chance to obtain the evolution fluid in the future.
Even if we could get it, we would only have a chance after everyone else in the village had their turn.
Nevertheless, the newlyweds were still greatly encouraged, and the melancholy and anxiety about the unknown future that they had felt when they first left the county town were almost completely swept away.
Inside the RV on the other side.
Lu Xuan learned a little about the siblings' backgrounds.
The siblings are named Mei Xue and Mei Cheng. They are the same age as the Chen siblings, ten and seven years old respectively. They are locals from the county town. Their parents died in the earthquake, leaving them to depend on each other for survival.
Children don't have a deep sense of attachment to their homeland; Mei Xue's greatest wish is simply to live on with her younger brother.
Lu Xuan greatly admired her rational attitude.
However, he didn't go out of his way to show compassion and promise to cover all the siblings' food and drink expenses from now on.
He said to Mei Xue, "After you join Yunlu Village, you can form your own household. When you have a harvest from gathering or hunting in the village, you will receive a household subsidy. Since your age falls within the scope of the old and young subsidy, you can receive an additional subsidy."
With these two subsidies, you basically don't need to worry about starving, but if you want a better life, you'll need to work hard yourself. You can earn money by helping with village work, or join a gathering team and go gathering with the other women. The choice is yours.
Mei Xue said firmly, "I can help with the work and collect materials! I will work hard to earn supplies!"
She knew that the people in Yunlu Village were doing well, and she wanted to make sure that she and her brother were as well-fed and clothed as everyone else, and could enjoy a life of luxury!
Mei Cheng nodded vigorously in agreement with her sister, saying that they could do anything!
Lu Xuan didn't show off his high-tech gadgets like the other villagers did. He knew about them sooner or later, so there was no need to flaunt them to his two children.
Lu Chen, on the other hand, became a member of the village because of the Mei siblings, and he was more enthusiastic towards them than towards the Chen siblings. He not only shared many snacks with them, introduced them to his family, and talked about the harvests the gathering team had collected before, but also offered to introduce them to other villagers once they found a place to stay.
Lu Xuan did not stop Lu Chen from making new friends.
Keeping the Mei siblings around was partly to fulfill a promise, but also partly on a whim. If Lu Chen liked them, he wouldn't mind taking care of the siblings a little more.
·
The four hovercraft did not head straight south. Instead, they used drones to explore the surrounding area first, bypassing overly desolate places or areas with town ruins, and trying to find areas with relatively abundant resources.
The rain was still quite heavy today, limiting the visibility of the hovercars and drones and slowing their progress.
About two hours after leaving the county town, they discovered a small, lush, and seemingly resource-rich hilltop. Even through the rain, they could still see many animals active in the mountains.
The drone circled the mountain and found an open space, where the hovercar slowly landed.
The villagers got off the bus wearing raincoats, and the able-bodied men quickly set up a huge rain shelter on the open ground with the parts provided by Lu Xuan, large enough for them to move around in.
The canopy has a transparent, environmentally friendly roof and transparent covers all around, which not only blocks rain but also shelters from the wind and keeps you warm, making it perfect as a temporary campsite on rainy days.
The villagers who got off the bus stretched their legs, which had become stiff from sitting on the bus, and then quickly got to work, each doing their own thing.
The older women took out the branches and charcoal they had stored in advance from their own space, lit a fire, and prepared to have a hot meal.
The elderly helped watch the children to keep them from running around, while the leaders of the gathering and hunting teams shouted loudly to their respective team members to assemble.
The newlyweds were initially amazed by the canopy, but when they saw the gathering and hunting teams skillfully carrying weapons and baskets, ready to go, they suddenly became flustered, exchanging glances and unsure of what to do.
Seeing this, Li Tie said, "You can join the gathering team or the hunting team voluntarily. We can provide weapons and baskets, and the cost of the weapons will be deducted directly from the harvest. Of course, you can also stay in the camp and do other things within your ability."
The villagers on the bus had already explained the allocation of the gathering and hunting teams to the newlyweds, so Li Tie did not repeat it.
Each of the newlyweds had at least one or two hundred catties of stored grain. When Yunlu Village invited them, it promised that they would not be shortchanged on their betrothal gifts and dowries. In the short term, they did not need to worry about food and drink.
But even a ten-year-old girl like Mei Xue knew that she had to find a way to earn more supplies, so how could the young and strong men just stay in the camp to do odd jobs?
Besides the elderly and children who are family members, Lin Qingfu, the middle-aged carpenter, five soon-to-be brides, two sons-in-law who have moved in with their families, the blacksmith, the hunter, and others, all joined the gathering/hunting team and received their respective weapon baskets.
Mei Xue was not originally suitable to join the gathering team at her age, but Li Tie agreed to let her join because her family depended on her. He also specifically instructed the female members of the gathering team to take care of her.
After the new members joined, in order to harvest the most in the shortest time, almost all six gathering/hunting teams went out, except for the elderly, the weak and the guards who stayed behind.
The new hilltop was not destroyed by the wildfire, and now it is the autumn harvest season, so the mountain is very rich in resources.
Not long after the six teams set off, they discovered quite a few good things.
Wild garlic, purslane, shepherd's purse...
Wild garlic is in its prime season, and it's incredibly delicious when stir-fried with eggs. The latter two are not as tender as those in spring, and they've been battered by rain and look half-dead, but they can still be eaten after being picked and washed.
Besides that, the most common sight is the thriving clusters of mushrooms that can be found under almost every two or three trees.
This is also the easiest ingredient to find and the one that grows best during the rainy season.
Matsutake mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, false honey fungus, and even enoki mushrooms—the first three are noticeably larger and fleshier than those in summer, so you can imagine that their flavor is definitely on another level.
The key point is that there are a lot of them.
The mushrooms that grew on top were left unpicked, and new ones grew underneath, crowding together and bursting into mushrooms. The harvesting team picked all the mushrooms from a small patch of forest around them, filling their baskets to the brim.
Besides a large number of mushrooms, Lu Qing and Miao Jinfeng's collection team also discovered a small patch of wild persimmon grove.
This is the season when persimmons ripen, and the orange-red fruits hanging high on the trees look both beautiful and eye-catching.
Unfortunately, there has been too much rain recently, and most of the persimmons have been knocked to the ground, rotting all over the place, which has saddened Miao Jinfeng and the others.
Fortunately, these persimmon trees were all old trees, and each tree produced a considerable amount of fruit. Even after calling Lu Xuan over to help ripen the half-ripe fruit still hanging on the trees, they still managed to obtain seven or eight hundred catties of fruit.
Lu Xuan also casually uprooted the tree and stored it in his spatial storage.
While enjoying the original persimmons, the viewers in the live stream urged Lu Xuan knowingly: "Host, hurry up and cultivate the mutant species, they want to eat the mutant persimmons!"
Compared to the gathering teams' almost ubiquitous harvest, the hunting teams had a bit more trouble.
With such heavy rain, most of the prey have hidden themselves. They need to use hoverboards to fly further away and rely on Lu Xuan and Wu Yang's enhanced vision to spot their prey.
However, once a prey is spotted, it has virtually no chance of escaping.
Rabbits, pheasants, deer, roe deer, wild boars... the harvest was also quite substantial.
The group got so caught up in gathering supplies that the village chief had to use a communicator to contact the team leaders and urge them on. Only then did the six teams reluctantly return to their temporary camp with a large amount of supplies.
result……
The newlyweds stared in shock at the multiple houses that had appeared out of nowhere in the camp, wiping the rain from their faces, dumbfounded.
Where did these houses come from?!
They had only been gone for less than two hours, but it felt like several months had passed in the camp.
Besides the oddly laid-out but exquisitely designed houses, there are rows of neat and orderly houses with doors and windows... Are those also houses?
"Hey, didn't I tell you before? This is the Celestial Palace... no, it's a safe house! Those next to it are the X-shaped shelters, the soundproofing is really good!" Zhang Chengming said in surprise.
Li Jing thought back and realized that they had indeed explained a lot of things to the newcomers, but it seemed that they had overlooked the safe house and the makeshift hospital.
The main reason is that they obtained these items from Lu Xuan during the hottest season. They've seen so many amazing things that it's impossible to explain each one clearly in a short time.
Now that the house was all brought out, he turned to explain to the newlyweds who looked utterly bewildered.
After the explanation, the newlyweds were even more confused.
Can a house be made bigger or smaller, and can be pieced together and disassembled at any time?
Is this still the house they remember?
Lin Qingfu, who stayed behind, patted the newcomers on the shoulder with an expression that said, "I understand you."
He watched as the villagers who stayed behind took out the modular panels and pieced them together to build small houses. He even helped them and experienced the soundproofing effect firsthand. He could completely understand their shock at that moment.
Mobile modular shelters are amazing enough, but safe houses are even more outrageous, with all sorts of amazing automated devices that leave people speechless.
The newlyweds listened to Lin Qingfu's animated narration, marveling at it while also showing hesitation on their faces.
The new hunter asked, "Will we be staying here from now on?"
Li Tie quickly waved his hand, looking like he thought, "How could this be?"
"Didn't we say we were going further south? We've only just started down this mountain. It's just that the mountains here are rich in supplies, and it would be a shame not to gather more supplies before we leave. So we've decided to stay here for another two or three days and take all the supplies we can find."
He clapped his hands and said, "Alright, we'll have plenty of time to look at the houses later. Let's divide up today's haul first."
The newlyweds already knew how Yunlu Village distributed these supplies, but knowing it didn't mean they actually felt they would get much.
Hearing Li Tie's words, his expression didn't change.
Until Li Tie fairly and justly distributed the share of the gathering/hunting and the subsidies to each household, everyone received at least three catties of meat, three catties of persimmons and two catties of mushrooms, and some even received more than ten catties of meat alone, with a total of fifteen catties of supplies!
As expected, the newlyweds were stunned once again.
How can they get so many supplies when they've only just joined?
So all those benefits mentioned earlier were actually true!?
Lu Xuan glanced at the new members who were repeatedly shocked by the village's extravagant gesture, and curled his lips into a smile.
Organizing people to go out and collect supplies despite the heavy rain was not only because they didn't want to miss out on the readily available supplies, but also perhaps to give the newlyweds a shock and encourage them to return home as soon as possible.
It seems that this approach is already showing initial success.
Mei Xue and Mei Cheng were overjoyed when they received their share of supplies.
Lu Qing asked Lu Xuan to help dry their portion of damp mushrooms, and then sealed the supplies in a vacuum packaging machine before handing them over to Mei Xue.
Mei Xue carefully packed the supplies into the backpack that Lu Xuan had casually given them as a greeting gift, her bright eyes gleaming with a burning light.
...
To celebrate today's harvest and to welcome the newcomers, dinner was a rare communal meal, with ingredients sourced from public supplies.
In addition to the meat and mushrooms harvested today, the village chief also brought out several waterfall fish and his treasured beef, giving the whole village a sumptuous meal.
The villagers usually eat quite well, so while they were happy, they weren't particularly excited.
The newlyweds, especially the youngest Mei Cheng, barely ate two bites of food before tears streamed down her face. Sobbing, she said to her older sister Mei Xue, "Sister, it's so delicious! So much meat! I wish Mom and Dad were here too."
The villagers felt heartbroken upon hearing this, and the sentimental women couldn't help but keep piling food onto the siblings' plates, saying, "Come on, eat more, don't be shy, make yourselves at home."
The other newly joined adults had moved into the east side of the city a few days earlier and were eating fairly well with the villagers. But today's meal was different because most of the ingredients were obtained by their own hands. Their mindset and the meaning behind it were completely different.
They no longer need to worry that the promises made by Yunlu Village are just empty words to deceive them, but that they can actually find and receive supplies.
Thinking of this, my previously uneasy heart immediately felt at ease.
Lin Qingfu kept piling food onto his plate, exclaiming, "This is so good, so good!"
During the meal, the newlyweds and the villagers of Yunlu Village got to know each other much better. After eating and drinking their fill, they happily followed the villagers, with whom they had become somewhat familiar, to visit the safe house and makeshift hospital, and were assigned accommodations for the next few days according to their needs.
The newcomers didn't have bio-suits, and it would definitely be cold to stay in the makeshift hospital in the current temperature. Therefore, all the newcomers were exceptionally arranged to stay in the more comfortable safe house, just like the elderly, weak, women and children.
The safe houses lent to the villagers weren't like the Lu family villas, which were fully furnished with all sorts of high-end furniture. The villagers slept on ordinary wooden beds made by Carpenter Ye during the hottest season. However, there were air conditioners, and quite a few silver and gold blind boxes were provided in each safe house.
With air conditioning controlling the temperature, the safe room was warm and cozy. The exhausted newlyweds had barely lain down when they fell asleep, too exhausted to even reflect on the day's events.
...
For the next two days, the villagers got up early every day, had a simple breakfast, and then actively continued to pick mushrooms all over the mountains and fields, trying to catch as many prey hidden in every corner of the valley and cave as possible to increase their meat reserves.
The newlyweds' pockets grew increasingly full, and their smiles became more frequent. No matter how heavy the rain was, it couldn't dampen their enthusiasm and pace as they scavenged for supplies.
This continued until the morning of the fourth day, when most of the villagers were still half asleep when a rumbling sound suddenly came from outside.
Lu Xuan was the first to wake up and walk out of his house. He turned on his live stream and pointed it outside. The doors of the other safe houses/makeshift shelters on the left and right also opened one after another. The villagers looked in shock at the surging torrent coming down the mountain.
After days of continuous torrential rain, the flood peak finally arrived.
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Author's Note: Special thanks to: [Sprinkling flowers]
Changyushan threw one grenade. Time of throw: 2025-03-12 23:14:54
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